11 Months!

Weight/Length- I forgot to weigh you today, and don't know that I'll get a chance tomorrow as we are leaving town bright and early... chances are that I won't actually remember to, but I'll TRY to update by the end of the week! lol

Eating- Still eating 2-3 meals a day of solids, with several snacks in between (at least when you're home with us... not sure if snacks are happening at day care, but you seem to be eating most of the stuff that I pack for you in the morning, so it's going well!)

Teeth- Six teeth fully in, 2 more are popping through!  That makes SIX teeth on top... and only TWO on the bottom!!  lol  You're bite marks look pretty goofy.  =)

Sleep-Since the daylight savings jump you've been staying up an hour later, going to bed now at about 8 (except tonight, you were super tired/cranky, so you went to bed at 7:00).  For the most part you are sleeping through the night, but I'd say that about 50% of the time you are still waking up between 4-6 to have a bottle and then back to bed until 7/7:30ish.

 Clothes-I unpacked your 12 month box of clothes this week... I remember when they looked so BIG!  You are still able to fit into most of your 9 month stuff, but I'll be transitioning those out pretty soon.  Especially the footie pajamas... you're getting too tall for them!

Personality- Ditto on last month... but you're starting to get pretty brave now with checking out your surroundings... and you're also starting to get the temper tantrum thing down pretty good when I won't let you explore something that you REALLY NEED TO SEE. lol

Likes/Dislikes-

• You like walking around and exploring new things/places.  You even think that you can run... until your momentum gets the best of you!
• You like playing with your ball... you get REALLY excited when you hit it and make it bounce out of your dad's hands.
• We introduced you to goldfish crackers this last week... you LOVE them!  They have put your Cheerios to shame!  ;)
• You seem to like your stroller again.  For awhile you weren't a fan.  Today you actually fell asleep in it, for the first time in months!
• You like pushing shopping carts around the grocery store.... even if they aren't ours! lol
• You like climbing on to things (I have a hard time tearing you away from staircases)... and you get really excited when you're up on the couch!

•  You don't like getting new teeth... especially two at a time!  You were NOT a happy camper last weekend!
• Your dad and I can't think of any other "dislikes" this month either.... you're just a happy kid. =)

Milestones-

•  You celebrated your first St. Patrick's Day and heard an Irish band!
•  You have learned how to climb off of the couch safely (on your tummy, feet first).  You don't do it all the time... but you know how!

Teething... Ugh.

This weekend was definitely not as relaxing as I hope/thought it would be... Emily was in a mood.  And, when Emily is in a mood, we are ALL in a mood (due to lack of sleep and constant noise. lol).

On Saturday I thought that she'd just woken up on the wrong side of the crib as she was acting kind of pissy but didn't seem to have any other signs of anything else going on.  And then she started to get a runny nose and a cough.  Sunday was much of the same, but she also started to make her "my mouth hurts 'cause I have a tooth coming in" noise*.

*I wish I could explain this... I'm doing it right now trying to figure out the best way... lol... Blow air forcefully out of your lightly closed lips so your lips kind of "flap".  THAT's the noise.

Jacob stuck a finger in there to investigate and, sure enough, she has a 5th tooth coming in on the top.  (I'm starting to wonder when her bottom teeth are going to start popping, right now she only has 2 down there!).  While her mood didn't improve, we at least knew what the culprit was, and were able to give her some teething tablets and teething rings to chew on.  It made her feel a bit better, I think.  I just hope that it's done by next weekend as we are taking her on her first airplane ride and going to Southern California.  (I'd really like a HAPPY baby!)

Our weekend in pictures.... ;)

After MUCH coaxing, I finally got a few little smiles.....

Grocery Shopping!

Decided to do a little grocery shopping tonight after work.  We usually reserve this for the weekend, but we didn't make it there last weekend and are running out of food.  Tonight, Emily had WAY too much pent up energy to be held/carried while we shopped, so we decided to let her "help"  ;)

As Jacob noted in his comment below, she really did push that cart... for several aisles!  A lot of people did little double takes with a smile with a seemingly un-manned cart went by them.  ;)

And it Happened...

I've bitched and moaned a lot on this blog about my challenges/struggles/guilt about working full-time and not being able to spend much time during the week with Em, but this has always come from an internal origin.  No one has ever told me that I SHOULD stay home, or that me working was a disservice to Emily.... until last weekend.

Last Saturday the weather was finally decent, so Jacob was out mowing the lawn.  After wandering the house with Emily for a little while, I decided to strap her into the Ergo and go outside to watch her daddy mow, and taken in some fresh air.  While we were out there, one of the neighbor ladies was working in her garden.  After awhile she took a break and made her way over to say hi (really, to coo at Em).  I have had very little interaction with this woman before, but the one time that I did, it was not particularly pleasant, so I'm already not the biggest fan. 

Anyway, she came, said hello and after poking at Emily for a couple of minutes, she said something about how we've lived next door to each other for awhile now, but that she hasn't come to say hello because she works full-time and is rarely home.  I responded that Jacob and I also both worked full-time.  Her response floored me.  It included:

"Oh, but this little girl needs her mother more than that!"

"I raised 5 kids on a single budget."

"My kids still tell me how glad they were to have mom at home when they needed her."

WTF??  REALLY?  The funny thing is, I didn't really get mad or upset about this.... mostly because I was so shocked.  I almost found it humorous that this woman was so oblivious to what she was saying and the effect that it could have been having on me.  I was just amazed.